Listen to Your Mother Twin Cities: Meet our cast!

by Galit on March 16, 2017

We recently announced the full cast for this year’s Listen To Your Mother Twin Cities show. Now, it’s time to learn more about the women who will bring their stories of motherhood to the historic Riverview Theater on May 4, 2017.

Today, we introduce you to Tzitel, Molly, and Emily.

Tzitel Voss is a Speech Communications and Theater teacher and consultant with 20 years of experience in a broad range of fields. The greater part of her career has been spent within the field of education where she teaches communications classes and coaches nationally-ranked competitive speakers. ​Beyond the educational setting, Tzitel has worked with The Moth and Fringe Festival storytellers in preparation for the stage. She also has had the privilege to work with Public Defenders and Criminal Defense Lawyers on developing skills to share the stories of their clients in the courtroom. Tzitel has made a career out of listening to stories: stories of her students, stories of performers, stories of professionals. She is a teacher at heart and loves to help others find the courage to speak and make their “mess become their message”. Every once in awhile, she even has a story to share.

Molly Beth Griffin is the author of two picture books, RHODA’S ROCK HUNT and LOON BABY, and one young adult novel, SILHOUETTE OF A SPARROW. Her picture books have been awarded a Jeanette Fair book award and a Northeast Minnesota Book Award, and RHODA is a Star of the North Nominee this year. Her novel won the Milkweed Prize for Children’s Literature, was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award, and was featured on the ALA Rainbow List and the Amelia Bloomer List of Feminist Literature. Molly won a McKnight Fellowship in 2014 and has received two Artist Initiative Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Since graduating from Hamline University’s MFA program in Writing for Children and Young adults in 2009, she has been teaching writing for children at the Loft Literary Center, critiquing manuscripts, and hosting a monthly Picture Book Salon. She lives in South Minneapolis with her partner and their two kids, ages 3 & 7, who like to fight with each other, complain on short hikes, and whine about her awesome cooking.

Emily Heinis is a mother to Olivia (6) and Nathan (almost 4; never leave out the almost), a spouse to Patrick, a lover of sarcasm, a budding blogger (emilyheinis.com), a part-time vegan (cheese is REALLY good), a reader of memoirs (true stories are the best stories), a parentheses overuser, and a teacher turned SAHM turned WAHM. Emily has a BST in Communication Arts and Literature and an MA in Communication Studies, both from Minnesota State University, Mankato (Go, Mavs!). For nearly ten years, she enjoyed teaching high school communications and coaching the speech team. When Olivia was born, however, she felt compelled to reduce her class size to one. An extended maternity leave turned into a resignation. By the time Nathan was born, Emily was loving being a stay-at-home-mom, frolicking in parks and discouraging booger-picking in public. As amazing as SAHM life was, though, she longed for conversations with people more than three feet tall. In 2014, she started working at home between recitations of Go, Dog, Go and slicing cucumbers the long way, not into circles. Emily now enjoys teaching again, both in person and online, helping people find personal wellness through toxin-free living and financial wellness through relationship marketing. In her spare time, you’ll find her drinking wine in the bathtub, binge-watching anything by Shonda Rhimes, painting lovely things, and trying not to swear in front of her kids.

The Listen To Your Mother Twin Cities show will take place on Thursday, May 4, 2016 at 7 p.m. at the Riverview Theater.

We would also like to recognize our generous sponsors. Without their support, this show would not be possible. Please check them out and thank them for their partnership with the Listen To Your Mother Twin Cities show!